


Assuage

by Nununununu



Category: His Dark Materials (TV)
Genre: Caretaking, Carrying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Mutual Pining, Touching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26513905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/pseuds/Nununununu
Summary: If Iorek is to take Lee's word for it, his friend is absolutely, definitely fine. For sure.Evidently he's not.
Relationships: Iorek Byrnison/Lee Scoresby
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28
Collections: pine4pine 2020





	Assuage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DoreyG](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/gifts).



> For DoreyG, whose prompts were so good <3

“Ah – _shoot_ ,” Lee’s exclamation is joined by Hester’s yelp.

“Lee? Hester?” Iorek glances back at his friends. The snow’s coming down thicker and they’ve got a way left to get back to the balloon; it won’t do to linger out here in the open for long. “Are you all right, my friends?”

Lee’s got one hand up around Hester where she’s tucked inside both his waistcoat and coat, and an odd expression on what Iorek can see of his face between his hat and scarf. Drawing a breath in informs him that Lee’s scent has changed – the man’s begun sweating slightly, although he’s also shivering with the cold.

“No, it’s – I’m fine,” Lee firms his jaw, lifts his booted foot out of the snow, places it down again somewhat more gingerly than normal and then sets his weight on it determinedly. His expression crumples instantly, for all he seeks to once again smooth it out, “Yep. Just fine.”

“He’s not fine, Iorek,” Hester’s muffled voice corrects.

“Indeed,” Turning, Iorek pads back to Lee’s side to consider his friend more closely – and the hole in the snow left by Lee’s boot, “You stepped on something.”

“Wrenched my ankle slipping off whatever it was,” Lee confirms on a grimace. He’s got both his arms up around Hester now and she hisses as he attempts to take another step.

“Lee, stop being an idiot,” She sounds strained.

“We’ve got to get back to the balloon, Hester,” What’s visible of Lee’s brow wrinkles as he sends a look around at the fast falling snow, “Should have stayed in town longer, really, and not risked leaving until tomorrow.”

“And who exactly insisted on leaving now?” His little daemon’s voice turns dry, “As I recall two of us here were against it, while only one darn fool was all for the idea.”

“Gosh, I’m sure I have no clue who that might have been,” Rueful amusement quirks Lee’s lips, although the breath he next draws in catches a bit and his face has blanched. Still, he fists his gloved hands as if he’s determined to hobble all the way back to the balloon, “Right, well, no time like the present to be getting a move on if we don’t want to freeze to death –”

“Lee,” Iorek interrupts the attempt before it can start, “It would be unwise for you to continue as you are and exacerbate the injury. You require assistance.”

“I –” Lee looks much as if he’s mightily tempted to once more profess just how ‘fine’ he is, but an indistinct movement around his midriff makes him jolt – Hester no doubt giving him a prod or a kick. He bites his lip, “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It would be no imposition,” Huffing out a smile, Iorek lowers his stance.

Lee bites his lip harder, “If you wouldn’t mind me just hooking an arm over your shoulders so you could support some of my weight then, Iorek, that would be a real kindness. I’m sure I’ll be able to make my way like that.”

“Like heck you will,” Hester mutters.

“ _Lee_ ,” Unable to resist the urge to touch him, Iorek angles his head to graze his nose against the gloved fingers Lee has half extended, drawing in the scent of his friend through the thick material, “We should not risk your wellbeing by lingering further out in this cold.”

He settles down further in the snow to clarify his intent, “I will carry you.”

“I couldn’t –” His gaze flying up from the hand Iorek had touched, Lee’s whole stance changes, the man drawing back and gritting his teeth against a noise as his weight shifts on his injured ankle, “I’d never ask that of you, Iorek.”

“I would not offer if I were unwilling,” Iorek inclines his head, glancing down at the lump inside Lee’s clothes that is Hester and then back up at the man, “You are my friends. There would be neither honour nor sense in not doing whatever I can to aid you.”

“Mm,” His expression crumpling a second time – although this time he hasn’t moved – Lee rubs his hand briefly over the lower half of his face, pauses, blinks at his fingers, flushes slightly for some reason, and then finally moves to climb up onto Iorek’s back, “I’m truly am sorry about this.”

“My only regret is that you are in pain,” Iorek can’t prevent his ears from going back in concern at the involuntary noises Lee does his utmost to stifle as he works to carefully situate himself, cutting off a gasp as he tries to find somewhere to rest the affected foot, “I will be gentle.”

“U-uh –” His gloved hands tightening in Iorek’s ruff, something about Lee’s tone changes and he clears his throat, “I’m much obliged; thank you.”

The size difference between them is great enough that he forms a barely noticeable weight just behind Iorek’s shoulders once he is settled, although Iorek can’t help but be intently aware of it.

“ _Lee_ ,” Hester’s following whisper is something he is clearly not intended to pick up on, so Iorek concentrates on rising back up to all four paws and resuming their journey to the balloon as steadily as he is capable of.

The snow blankets the world in its hush, the mountains all but lost either side of them, and Iorek follows his nose and the faint scent of metal, oil and gas that mark the position of the balloon – and are all things that make up a fraction of Lee’s scent. It’s like smelling the man, in a sense, but more so – although there are many other facets to Lee’s scent that Iorek has come to relish that the balloon does not possess.

“I really do appreciate this, Iorek,” Lee’s still shivering, perceptible even through Iorek’s thick layers of fur, but his voice is steadier at least and Hester has stopped letting out quiet wounded sounds.

“You are welcome,” The man’s gloved hands are two faint points of pressure and Iorek should not yearn to feel them more. He should not hunger for Lee to remove his gloves – were they back in the town or in the gondola or anywhere else not exposed to the elements as they are now – and to bury those clever fingers of his through the protective guard hairs and deeper into insulating soft fur.

He should not wonder if Lee would like it, or what Hester would make of the idea. He should not want to tuck his nose into the gaps he sometimes spies in Lee’s clothing, at times when the weather is less punishing; he should not wish to peel off those many layers and discover for himself what lies within.

There is something undeniably tempting about the thought of so unwrapping his friend and –

“Is my gait paining you, my friend?” Iorek should not be thinking of any of this.

“N-no, you’re being a real help,” Those fingers of Lee’s shift just a bit, “I can’t say how much I appreciate it.”

Words should definitely not rise up in Iorek’s throat – words to request that Lee touch him properly, stroke his fur, run his hands through it at his leisure –

No.

Hearing a rumble unintentionally resounding from deep in his chest, Iorek endeavours to drive away such thoughts.

“Not much longer, my friend,” His tone reflects some of his conflict, to his regret.

“Yeah,” His reply a touch belated, Lee adjusts his position on Iorek’s back. He must be able to feel that rumbling – Iorek has to make a conscious effort to cut it off. Judging by his voice, Lee’s potentially biting his lip again or chewing the inside of his cheek, “Not long now, Hester.”

“I know, Lee,” Hester’s cranky response makes Iorek huff in gentle amusement, “I do have ears.”

“They are very good ears,” Iorek’s own ears twitch when both man and daemon stumble over a response as if surprised by the remark.

“Th-thank you kindly,” Sorting her reply out, Hester sounds uncharacteristically shy.

Shaking his head very slightly in bemusement, Iorek continues his trek to the deflated balloon, the gondola a dark shape amongst the falling snow, “I speak only the truth. We have nearly arrived.”

“Y-yeah,” The noise Lee lets out himself is almost a sigh.

Iorek must be mistaken in thinking the man sounds disappointed. It can’t be. Why would Lee want anything other than to return to his balloon, where he can rest in the shelter of the gondola and see to his injury?

“I have imagined carrying you like this before,” Iorek finds that he admits despite knowing it unwise – he must say _something_ , and can only hope it will not offend his friend.

“You – you have?” Lee’s knees tighten a little on his back; the man abruptly sitting up higher.

“Indeed,” Iorek allows a touch of humour to colour his words, “When you are so deep in debate with Hester that you forget to walk despite having an engagement to attend –”

“A-ah,” This time Lee lets go with one hand to cough into his fist, which wasn’t Iorek’s intent.

“Or when you get so distracted gazing up at the sky in the attempt to predict flying conditions you trip over random objects,” He would jostle Lee at this point, very gently, if it wouldn’t risk hurting his friend.

“I have _never_ –” Lee gets out as if offended, although he’s clearly on the verge of laughter – which _was_ Iorek’s aim.

“Oh, I can think of a fair few occasions,” Hester chips in.

“Or when it is necessary to make a hasty escape,” While Iorek’s good humour falters a little at certain memories that arise, he succeeds in keeping his tone light-hearted, “Between the three of us, we are different enough in speed that I confess I have been tempted to toss you up onto my shoulders on occasion, Lee.”

“You’re saying I’m just slow, aren’t you,” Lee’s response is a mock-sulky grumble that makes Hester snort.

“Yup,” Her tone, in contrast, is breezy, “Right, up and over we go, Lee.”

She’s evidently poked at least her nose enough out of the man’s clothing to know that they’ve reached their destination.

“You will need to hold on securely,” Iorek waits until he feels Lee increase his grip, before clambering into the gondola with the utmost care, feeling his friend lean in close to his back to cling on.

“ _Oof_ ,” Lee slides off somewhat gracelessly once they’re situated and lands with a thud, “Ouch. Okay, that’s uncomfortable.”

“Did the entry pain you, my friend?” Settling down next to him once he’s sorted out the lantern and pulled the covers closed overhead to keep out the snow, Iorek grazes his nose close to the man’s boot in concern, not going so far as to actually touch it.

“H-heh,” Something about the question seems to fluster Lee, but he brings a gloved hand up to pat as close as he can reach to Iorek’s shoulder nonetheless, a companionable gesture he’s been known to make throughout the many years of their friendship, even as his other hand plucks circumspectly at his trousers, “No, the – ah. Entry. Had nothing to do with it.”

He once again clears his throat.

“You are becoming ill?” Crossing over to Lee’s sleeping area, Iorek tugs off the man’s blankets to bring them over and deposit them in his friend’s lap, “You should warm yourself before we see to your injury.”

“I think it was just all the talk of riding you that got Lee here a little overexcited,” Hester scrabbles to get out of the man’s coat, dodging the swat Lee aims at her, that flush leaping back into his face.

“I’m not _overexcited_ , Hester,” He darts a look at Iorek almost guiltily even as he protests, “Don’t mind her, Iorek, she’s just –”

“I’m _what_ , Lee?” Sitting up straight, Hester flings a look at him that just dares him to finish that remark.

“Just as wound up by the whole of it,” Lee completes stubbornly.

“Lee,” His friend’s hat is askew, knocked ajar by the landing. Stepping in closer in hope of providing a distraction from the bickering that looks set to break out, Iorek clasps the brim of the hat very lightly between his teeth in order to straighten it, hearing Lee let out a small noise. The movement –

Has brought Iorek in very close to the smaller figure, Lee’s hands flying up to hover near Iorek’s throat, clearly not quite daring to make contact. It is still cold in the gondola, if less so than out in the snow, the covers overhead closing it off from the world along with the blankets and Iorek’s own body heat all helping – he’s taken off his gloves. 

Years’ worth of longing beats alongside his heart in Iorek’s chest.

“Lee,” Iorek will not presume, but if his friend is willing – “You may.” He steps in a little closer again.

“You – you’re sure,” Lee strokes the soft fur there almost tentatively, Hester bounding back over to him to place her small paws on his blankets-covered thigh and look intently up at the panserbjørn.

“I am,” Rumbling louder than before, Iorek can’t help but push into the touch; can’t help but lower his head to tip his nose in against his friend’s jaw, aching to draw in as much of the scent of him as he’s allowed.

“I-Iorek –” Lee’s bare fingers feel incredible against his throat, his muzzle, but –

“Your injury needs treating,” Forcing himself to draw back is one of the more difficult things Iorek has ever done, “I apologise, my friend.”

“No, there’s no need to – to apologise,” Lee’s got an almost desperate expression on his face as he curls his fingers as if tempted to reach after Iorek, his coat part undone from Hester’s emergence and where his scarf slipped down.

Looking at the lingering stiffness in his posture and at the way Hester is still poised between them, her back tense, Iorek hastens to retrieve the small medical kit the man keeps tucked between two crates. Then he clasps the ends of the laces to Lee’s boot with extreme care between his teeth to draw them loose, his gaze intent on his friend’s face for any sign doing so causes him further hurt.

“Ah, thank you kindly, Iorek,” Lee is sweating lightly again, although he is sitting down. He grunts, settling his fingers almost tentatively back into Iorek’s fur, although he’s holding on tightly by the time the panserbjørn has eased the boot off, “ _Ow_.”

While his ankle is swollen, he’s able to move it to an extent and the bones are intact. Iorek wants to lick him, to soothe away the scent of his friend’s pain with his tongue – a little like a panserbjørn might do for a cub, but then again not.

Not really that similarly at all, in fact, given there are many other parts of his friend’s body he would also very much like to lick. Or just to bury his nose against. Or just to –

He withdraws, firming his resolve against the fact Lee makes a little noise of what Iorek no doubt only perceives to be protest.

“I am afraid the rest might be beyond me,” He has to admit once he has the kit opened and is examining the contents, “But I will do whatever I can, if you would be so kind as to instruct me.”

“This one’s quite capable of addressing his own injuries,” Hester puts in firmly, to which Lee makes a sort of grimace-huff of agreement.

“Yeah, I’m quite used to patching myself up,” He gets somewhat reluctantly to work, his movements a little jerky at first, but starting to ease as he gets his ankle wrapped up tight, leaning back after with it propped up on a low box, “Thanks for getting my boot off, Iorek; that’s always the worst of it.”

“I am glad to have been of assistance,” Passing the man his canteen, Iorek waits until Lee has drunk before removing his friend’s hat and nudging his shoulder lightly, guiding him into lying down properly amongst his blankets, “And now you should rest.”

“I, um,” Flustering at once, Lee’s hands fly back up towards Iorek, this time hovering either side of his face, “Yeah, all right.”

“I will let you be,” Iorek gives into the impulse to lick his friend’s fingers before going to move back, at which point Lee makes a strangled sound and attempts to get his arms round as much of Iorek’s shoulders as he can.

“Stay and keep me warm?” His voice is muffled, face buried in Iorek’s fur, “Hester can be look out.”

“Oh, I can, can I?” Already hunkered deep under the blankets, she makes no move to emerge.

“The snow will continue for no small while longer,” Iorek lifts his head up a little to scent the air, effectively drawing Lee up with him, alert to any sound of discomfort and relieved when there is none, “I believe we will all be safe here for the night.”

“Good, that’s – good,” Lee’s small weight is not at all sufficient to tug Iorek down amongst the blankets, but he lets his friend do his utmost to achieve this nevertheless, settling down contentedly.

“That’s better,” Grinning, Lee snuggles in even closer against him at once.

“Indeed,” Iorek nuzzles at his friend’s hair just a bit, then, when Lee makes a happy sounding noise, dabs his nose against the man’s cheek affectionately, “Now rest.”

“Don’t honestly reckon I’m going to be able to sleep,” There’s a chuckle along with something else in Lee’s voice, something that almost matches the yearning tugging at Iorek all over again, filling his mind and heart with the feeling of his friend so close against him, of Hester there right next to them, of the way they’re all so different from one another but fit together so well.

It can’t be, though – surely not.

“I understand you would no doubt rather be up and about,” Iorek is well accustomed to Lee’s tendency to be ever in motion.

“No, it’s not that,” Wriggling around a bit awkwardly while simultaneously trying not to move his bound foot, Lee huffs under his breath until he manages to get an arm out of his coat, “It’s just – starting to get a little toasty in all these layers, that’s all.”

“Allow me,” Grasping the collar of his friend’s coat in his mouth doesn’t take much effort at all and allows Lee to free his other arm much more easily, the man grunting his thanks as he kicks off his remaining boot, nudging it out from under the blankets.

Having expected him to stop there, Iorek falls still in surprise when Lee’s hands next go to his scarf, tugging that off – and then his necktie.

He must make some sort of noise for Lee sends him a darting sideways glance, a certain light in his eye, Hester popping up from her hiding place to look back and forth between them both.

Lee’s smile is a bit crooked, “Might as well get comfortable.”

“It is true you will probably rest better then, if you are confident you will remain warm enough,” Iorek allows. He –

Should not be as invested in watching Lee remove each article of clothing as he is, his sides moving more as his breath deepens in response to the disrobing.

“Thanks to you and Hester, I couldn’t be warmer,” Opening the buttons on his waistcoat one after another and shrugging out of it before easing off his braces with a well-practiced tug, Lee then goes for the collar of his shirt.

“ _Lee_ ,” Iorek can’t stop himself from saying his friend’s name, just as he can’t keep himself from watching every move intently in anticipation of the next, conscious of Lee’s eyes on him in return and the way the man’s hands have gone a touch clumsy, a tremble to them as they skid off a button, Lee swearing quietly under his breath, “Allow me?”

Buttons are beyond Iorek’s capability in his current distracted state, in truth, but he’s able to run an opposable thumb lightly over the line of Lee’s belt when his friend swallows and nods, and to gently untuck the tails of his shirt.

“Iorek,” Lee’s breathing hard as Iorek eases the blankets back just enough to see what he’s doing, not wanting to lose any of the accumulated heat, that same tremble now audible in his friend’s voice.

“Do make sure you stay warm enough,” Iorek can’t quite shed his concern when Lee then moves not quite hesitantly to the hem of his undershirt, Hester murmuring something before hopping aside as he tugs it free from his trousers himself, revealing a stripe of skin at his waist that Iorek has no chance of looking away from whatsoever.

“I – I will,” By the sound of it, Lee’s back to biting his lip. Taking care not to move his lower half, he shrugs the undershirt off and then he’s crowding back in against Iorek, nestling into his fur, “Is this – Shoot, I should have asked and not just – You feel so –”

“It is quite all right,” While he has no intention of moving at this present moment, Iorek very badly wants to see him; to stand and circle round his friend and take all of him in. He’s seen Lee partially unclothed before, his friend seeming to think little of it when a quick change of clothes is needed, but this –

This is inescapably different. And the feeling of bare skin against his fur is divine.

“You should lie down in order to conserve more warmth,” Iorek nudges Lee back over again, very gently, rising up over him in his wake.

“Yeah, that’s –” Lee stretches out under him easily until he’s interrupted by a faint grimace, glancing down in the direction of his foot, “Dang. Ouch.”

“You must remain still, my friend,” The impulse to explore the man’s bare shoulders is great enough that Iorek’s nosing at Lee’s collarbone before he can think that this might be objectionable, beyond relieved when Lee lets out a somewhat explosive noise much like a moan, his hands diving back fervently into the fur of Iorek’s ruff.

“I reckon you could – could maybe distract me from the pain?” There’s hope clear as anything and an offer just as unambiguous in Lee’s voice, and so Iorek allows himself to relax, investigating a shoulder and upper arm with his nose and mouth before descending down to Lee’s chest, discovering a wonderful little nub there that makes his friend yelp and shudder breathlessly when touched. There’s a wealth of eagerness in Lee’s voice, “Maybe you could even, ah. Hold me down if it becomes necessary?”

Huffing in a combination of affection and fast increasing arousal, Iorek doesn’t attempt to hide his delight, “If that is what you wish, my friend, then I do indeed believe that I could.”


End file.
